ACC President O’Gara calls for focus on more learning, less lecturing

SAN DIEGO — American College of Cardiology president Patrick T. O'Gara, MD, opened the 2015 Scientific Sessions with reference to the chosen theme for this year's program: "More learning and less lecturing."

"My hope is that you measure the value of ACC 2015 in units of personal growth," he said.

Patrick T. O'Gara

The broad themes of O'Gara's talk dealt with opportunity, challenge and leadership.

He suggested that advances in transcatheter therapies and the monitoring of HF and ACS, along with further understanding of PCSK9, present the clinical community with a host of targets for research.

"Wireless technologies, biosensors, social media and video streaming are already transforming the clinical landscape," he added.

One of the big challenges facing the medical community is stagnation in funding for medical research, according to O'Gara. "This hangs over most of our conversations," he said.

But despite this obstacle, he encouraged physicians to embrace long-term thinking and an ongoing thirst for discovery. He noted that the success story of transcatheter aortic valve replacement should be a paradigm for the application of other innovative techniques.

Regarding leadership, O'Gara's message was simple. "We shouldn't lose the altruistic ideal that led all of us to careers in medicine," he said.

In memoriam

O'Gara honored the passing of three important members of the clinical community.

He praised the pioneering spirit of Suzanne B. Knoebel, MD, MACC, who was the first woman to serve as ACC president. Apart from her work in the clinic, she was the author of two children's books and two medical novels.

Mehdi Ali Qamar, MBBS, FACC, FSCAI, of the Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster, Ohio, was a former recipient of the ACC Young Investigator Award. He was killed by armed gunmen while volunteering to treat patients in his home country of Pakistan.

Finally, there was Michael Davidson, MD, who was shot while treating patients at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Davidson was responsible for a number of programs at that center, including the development of a hybrid operating room.

Both Davidson and Qamar were posthumously given the ACC Distinguished Service Award.

Simon Dack Lecture

Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP, professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine and senior associate chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Stanford University Medical School, waxed poetic, literally, in delivering the Simon Dack Lecture. Verghese, a bestselling author of three novels, quoted from e.e. Cummings and described electronic medical records as "a sort of fiction."

Specifically, he noted that the amount of time clinicians spend on the computer — upwards of 4,000 clicks per day — may be damaging to both clinical outcomes and relationships with patients. "This probably contributes to the door-to-balloon time that you worry about so much," he said.

Verghese encouraged attendees to appreciate the ritual of the doctor-patient visit, and to pay attention to both the physical and the metaphorical heart.

"If you do this, your head and your heart will be fulfilled, and you will have accomplished a kind of poetry," he said. - by Rob Volansky

References:

O'Gara PT. 400-03. ACC Presidential Address.

O'Gara PT. 400-04. In Memoriam.

Verghese A. 400-06. Simon Dack Lecture "I Carry Your Heart." Presented at: American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions; March 14-16, 2015; San Diego.

Disclosure: O'Gara reports no relevant financial disclosures.